Music

Sounds of taiko drums and flamenco guitar float into the weekend

Members of Kita No Taiko and other players and singers from Edmonton's Asian musical community will perform in Rhythm & Roots: Harmony at Convocation Hall Sunday.

Roger Levesque

Published: May 2, 2019 - 1:35 PM

Over 33 years, Edmonton’s Kita No Taiko has shown a deep respect for the grand tradition of Japanese drum ensembles (their name means Drums From The North). They also have a penchant for pushing the boundaries of what you might expect from a drum troupe.

Take their special spring concert for instance, happening Sunday at Convocation Hall.

May is Asian Heritage Month and their show, Rhythm & Roots: Harmony, is set to involve guest players and a small choir reflecting other corners of Edmonton’s Asian music community. Most of the works will only feature smaller parts of the Kita No Taiko’s full ensemble (now 20 members).

Together with the taiko group they will try out traditional pieces and new works, a fusion of Japanese percussion and rarely heard instruments and songs. The guests will be featured on solo works to show off their unique instruments before they play with members of Kita No Taiko.

“The theme of collaboration has been prominent in KNT as we try to stretch our abilities,” explains drummer Carley Okamura, who served as artistic director for the concert. “We’re used to being the centre of attention on our own, but when we collaborate we have to tone down the drums a bit and think of how those rhythms can work with other artists.”

Members of Kita No Taiko and other players and singers from Edmonton’s Asian musical community will perform in Rhythm & Roots: Harmony at Convocation Hall Sunday.

Guest collaborators will include the accomplished Indian tabla maestro Ojas Joshi, then Hitoshi Sugiyama featured on the Japanese bamboo flute known as the shinobue, and Nanyen Lau playing the erhu (two-string Chinese bowed fiddle).

Add Chinese and Japanese players on two ancient instruments that are historical cousins. Justine Chung plays the Chinese guzheng, while Mami Hara plays the Japanese koto. Both these instruments are variations on a flat, stretched out harp that looks more like a long, narrow table. Both are played with picks attached to the fingers, and the sharp plucks of the strings bring a lovely atmospheric sound.

Finally, the Nobara Choir is a group of 11 senior Japanese-Canadian women, either alto or soprano singers, singing in Japanese.

“The inspiration for this show was really to represent how taiko can work with other musicians in a softer, more intimate setting rather than the usual booming sounds that most people have come to expect, and in that there’s a real diversity of pieces.”

Rhythm & Roots: Harmony happens 2:30 p.m. Sunday in Convocation Hall in the Old Arts Building on the University of Alberta campus. Tickets are $25 in advance online, or at the door.

Have strings, will travel

For decades now veteran Edmonton string slinger Jim Findlay has been gradually expanding his sonic passport to include more exotic strains. His early roots in rock ‘n’ roll, training in jazz at MacEwan, and classical piano lessons would make it interesting enough but Findlay can’t resist the lure of exploring Gypsy jazz, blues variations, eastern grooves and more, putting his own stamp on sounds in a way that makes them impossible to classify.

He’s been a regular at Blue Chair Cafe for years, most often heading up his jazzy trio or quartet, usually looking for ways to play outside any particular box.

This weekend Findlay and friends are set to pull off something new again in Spiral Flamenco. Like many of his projects, original instrumental tunes will overlap into jazz territory, but this band is really about flamenco first — the 500-year-old tradition from Spain’s southern Andalusian region.

The project started several years ago, but the new lineup he leads at Blue Chair on Saturday delves deep, featuring friends he met at the Edmonton Flamenco Society. What attracted Findlay to this ages-old musical stream?

“I think I was called to the element of improvisation first. With my history in jazz it felt like a good fit, and the classical techniques of the flamenco tradition absorbed me too. But of course you can’t ignore the feeling of flamenco, so fiery and full of passion.”

Findlay and friend Ehab Sleiman are both featured on flamenco guitars and the oud, the 11-string Persian cousin to the lute. Add in Findlay’s jazzy bassist pal Michael William, as well as Marni Benavides and Susan MacGregor making their debut with the group, singing and dancing in a flamenco style, playing close attention to the percussive clapping. This is no mere flirtation with the tradition. In fact, their interest in flamenco goes back to childhood.

The group’s interest reflects long hours of study and months of rehearsal, playing both original works and flamenco songs. Gypsy and Middle Eastern streams will be woven into the mix.

Findlay will return to play brunch at Blue Chair Cafe May 19, when he’ll be tapping his classical side, playing ancient string music from the Baroque, Renaissance, Classical and modern eras in a project he shares with guitarist Andrea Lastiwka known as Aquarius Guitar Duo.